A user environment, such as a residence or an office building, for example, may be configured using various types of load control systems. A lighting control system may be used to control the lighting loads in a user environment. The lighting control system may include various devices, such as input devices and load control devices, capable of communicating via radio frequency (RF) communications. For example, a remote control device may be used to communicate with lighting devices (e.g., light bulbs) in the load control system to control the lighting level of the lighting devices. The devices may communicate in a network using RF communications, such as ZIGBEE® communications; BLUETOOTH® communications; or proprietary communications, such as CLEAR CONNECT™.
Lighting devices in the user environment may be collectively controlled by a common lighting control device that is capable of dimming the group of lighting devices or toggling the group of lighting devices on and off. One or more of the lighting devices in the system may be independently controlled by another lighting control device. This independent control of a subset of the lighting devices may cause some of the lighting devices to become out of sync with the rest of the group, such that some of the lighting control devices are turned “on,” while others are turned “off.” When the common lighting control device is actuated by a user to toggle the entire group of lighting devices (e.g., from on to off, or vice versa), the lighting devices that are out of sync with the others will remain out of sync. Each of the lighting devices will receive a multicast message that causes the lighting device to toggle from on to off or vice versa, such that the lighting devices that are in an “on” will be turned “off” and the lighting devices that are “off” will be turned “on.” To get the lighting devices in the entire group back in sync, the user may be required to independently control the lighting devices that are out of sync.
The control device that is used for controlling the lighting devices may also be capable of controlling other types of electrical loads and/or load control devices in the user environment. Different types of electrical loads and load control devices may be controlled very differently. For example, lighting devices may be dimmed, HVAC systems may control temperature, motorized window treatments may be raised and lowered, etc. As many different types of electrical loads and/or load control devices may be controlled in the user environment, the status of these electrical loads and/or load control devices may be helpful for performing user control within the user environment. The status of the electrical loads and/or load control devices may not be easily determined from a single status indicator that is universal for the various types of electrical loads. Thus, a default indicator may cause confusion to the end user as to the actual status of an electrical load or load control device being controlled thereby.